


Wait for Me To Come Home

by HuntersMoon47



Series: Wait For Me To Come Home [9]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-14 23:46:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuntersMoon47/pseuds/HuntersMoon47
Summary: The best kind of celebration...hanky-panky





	1. Danica

Danica groaned as she pushed herself off the floor, the piece of debris on her back sliding off. It took a moment for her to gather her senses. To remember she was on the Collector base. That they had almost completed the mission. And she'd be damned if they weren’t going to make it now.

A few feet to her right she heard Garrus grunt. Stumbling to her feet, she made her way over to him and helped him up. 

“You okay?” she asked. Garrus blinked like he was trying to clear his vision. 

“Yeah,” he rumbled. His eyes raked quickly over her body, checking for injuries. “You?”

“Fine. Where’s Tali?”

“Over here!” The Quarian’s voice came from under a large piece of debris. Garrus and Danica hurried over to her and lifted it off. Tali accepted Danica’s hand and the commander pulled her friend to her feet. 

“So, we all survived that,” Tali said. “Now how do we get off this bloody ship?”

“Do you copy? Commander? Come on, Shepard, don’t leave me hanging. Do you copy?” Joker’s frantic voice echoed in her ear. Danica sucked in a few quick breaths before answering

“I’m here, Joker,” Danica responded. “Did the ground team make it?”

“All survivors on board.” Joker sighed. “We’re just waiting on you.” 

Shepard didn’t even have time to be relieved as the sound of a swarm behind her made her heart drop. 

“Human, you’ve changed nothing.” Harbinger’s voice sounded throughout the ship. Danica pulled out her sidearm - the only weapon with any ammo left - and started shooting at the swarm, signaling Garrus and Tali to run. “Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction.”

“Keela, will they ever shut up?” Tali panted as they all ran, making Shepard snort a laugh..

More Collectors appeared and Shepard just ran for it. There were too many. Garrus and Tali dodged fire as they ran towards the Normandy. The door slid open revealing Joker standing on deck, assault rifle in hand, providing cover. Danica almost laughed at the sight. Wonders never ceased. 

Garrus and Tali leaped onto the ship. 

Danica swore as debris fell from the ceiling, knocking out the platform Joker had saddled up to. There was a huge gap between her and the Normandy.

She was going to have to jump for it. 

There was no slowing down. There was no other option. She pumped her legs as fast as she could and launched herself at her ship.

Garrus’ eyes widen with fear. 

She hit the edge of the airlock with her chest, the force knocking all the air out of her lungs. She was beginning to slip when a Turian hand closed over her arm and Garrus hauled her into the ship.

“EDI! Get us out of here!” He bellowed, pulling Danica to her feet. His subvocals were going crazy - panic, anger, relief. 

“I’m fine,” she gasped weakly, struggling to fill her lungs with air again. Garrus growled his discontent, but slipped an arm around her waist and practically dragged her to the cockpit behind Joker as EDI’s voice counted down.

“Detonation in ten, nine, eight…”

“Yeah, I got the gist of it EDI!” Joker shouted. “Hold on!”

Garrus pulled her tighter to his side as the pilot fell into his chair. The Collector ship was a blur outside the window as the Normandy raced away. The eight remaining seconds of EDI’s countdown seemed to last a lifetime. 

An explosion rocked the ship.

“Come on; come on; come on; come on!” Joker mumbled, punching frantically at the controls.

And then a voice rang in their comms.

“You have failed. We will find another way.”

“How the fuck did they get this channel?” Garrus mumbled. Danica shook her head. It didn’t matter now. 

Another explosion sounded, this time rocking the ship so hard it knocked them off balance. 

“Joker!” Danica shouted. “I’m gonna be really pissed if my ship blows up again!”

“I got it!” He shouted back. 

And then the FTL kicked in. 

There was silence for a good fifteen seconds. 

Then shouts of victory began ringing throughout the ship. 

They’d made it. They’d actually survived the Suicide Mission. 

Danica looked up at Garrus, whose eyes were already on her. She felt like a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders.

“Well done, Commander Shepard.” His purr sent shivers down her spine. She didn’t even bother to hide the smile that felt like it would crack her face open. “How would you like to celebrate?”

“Gross, you two,” Joker interrupted. “I’m glad we’re alive and all - not that I ever had any doubt - but I do not need to hear Garrus’ sex voice. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re going to have one pissed of holographic dude to deal with before any hanky-panky happens.”

The mention of the Illusive Man dampened any joy Danica felt. The heat of anger rolled through her again. Garrus’ mandibles tightened, his eyes snapping with fury that matched her own. 

“No more,” Garrus growled. “We don’t need him.”

Danica only nodded. As usual, they were on the same page.

She was done. Done with Cerberus. Done with the Illusive Man. Damn the consequences. She’d done what she agreed to do; she’d stopped the Collectors. Now she was doing things on her own terms.

“You ready for this, Big Guy?” She asked. “Things could get rocky.”

“Is there ever a time when they aren’t?” He responded. It was so true Danica couldn’t even laugh. “I’m with you.”

“Alright then,” she said, turning on her heel and heading for the com room. “Let’s tell the asshole off.”

The walk through the ship took longer than she would have liked but it was well worth it to see everyone alive. She made sure to great them all. She even accepted a hug from Kelly who was still trembling. There was trama on the faces of many, but they’d lived. She’d been able to save them - for now. That’s what mattered. 

The com room was a mess. Sparks flew from wires hanging from the ceiling. Garrus had to lift a fallen wall panel for her to even get into the room. Usually, Danica waited for Garrus to take his spot in the blind corner but she had no fucks left to give. So what if the Illusive Man could see him in the room with her. What was he going to do? Fire her?

She pulled up the call. 

She hated that the coward was never there in person. She couldn’t kill a hologram with a shot to the head. And she was beginning to think she’d be doing the universe a favor is she just killed the bastard. 

“Shepard.” The Illusive Man’s voice grated at her nerves. “You’re making a habit of costing me more than time and money.”  

“I’d apologize, but I’d be lying,” she answered. She wasn’t sure if the man’s eyes narrowed at her sarcasm or the image of Garrus standing behind her. He’d not been quiet about his displeasure that she’d instructed EDI to defer to him in case she was incapacitated. She still suspected he was not pleased she’d made up her team of non-humans, despite what he’d said. But she didn’t care. “Too many lives were lost at that base. I’m not sorry it’s gone. And I’m not sorry I got to fuck you over in the process.”

He ignored her comment. 

“The first of many lives,” he commented, clearly caring more about the loss of the base - the loss of what it could give him - than any lives taken by it. “The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers and beyond.”

“Human dominance?” Danica demanded. “Or just Cerberus?”

“Strength for Cerberus is strength for every human. Cerberus is humanity. I should have known you’d choke on the hard decisions. Too idealistic from the start.”

Garrus growled behind her. He’d never taken it well when people insulted her. She had a feeling there was an extra layer of protectiveness now.

“Oh fuck you,” Danica spat. “Strength for Cerberus is strength for you. Dressing up your desire for power in fancy words about protecting humanity may work on some, but it doesn’t work on me - never did; never will. This was an alliance of necessity; I worked with you because I had to. I used your people and I used your money to do what I knew needed to happen. 

“But I’m done. We’re done. From now on, I’m doing things my way, whether you agree or not. This ship is mine; this crew is loyal to me now. And you can fuck off.”

The Illusive Man shot up from his chair, his image hurrying toward her. 

“Don’t you turn your back on me, Shepard!” He shouted. “I made you. I brought you back from the dead.”

Danica flipped him off. 

“Joker,” she said. “Lose this channel.”

“With pleasure, Commander.” 


	2. Garrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best kind of celebration...hanky-panky

He should have known better than to expect a break. After their call with the Illusive Man, Shepard had briefed the whole crew. Every single one chose to cut ties with Cerberus - even Miranda, who had apparently been siphoning money off of Cerberus for months in anticipation of this moment. They had enough money to maintain everyone’s salaries for six months. Garrus had never liked Mirand more.

Everyone had gathered in the CIC to go over the needed repairs, assignments, and review battle stations. The Illusive Man wasn’t likely to let them go easily and they had to be ready to run or fight if Cerberus operatives came after them. The plan was to get to Alliance airspace as quickly as possible. Cerberus couldn’t operate as freely there. 

Garrus had gone down to the shuttle bay to help with repairs down there, then to engineering to check in with Tali before heading back to the battery. He passed Shepard doing her rounds a few times in the hours that followed, catching her gaze more than once, her expression unreadable. It was well into the night cycle when he began to worry that he wasn’t going to see her that night. He could understand - it had been a hard mission, a long day - but he was disappointed. 

He’d taken off his armor and was doing some last minute work on the guns when the door slid open. He was only wearing the thin pants of his undersuit, the movement of the door creating a slight breeze that tickled the hide on the back of his neck.

“Well, that’s a better view than I was expecting,” Shepard’s voice immediately soothed whatever anxiety he’d been feeling about them. He forced himself to chuckle lightly, turn to face her, and lean back against his counsel casually. Shepard was dressed almost exactly as she had been last night - shorts and a thin white tank top - and that nearly knocked al the air out of his lungs. She grinned at him slyly. She’d done it on purpose. 

Two could play that game. 

“I aim to please,” he said, lowering his voice and letting his subvocals rumble with desire. Shepard’s smugness evaporated and her eyes burned into him. After a long, tense moment she marched straight for him. 

He was ready to catch her when she grasped his shoulders and hauled herself up to him. Garrus slid his hands under her as she wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed. A wave of pleasure hit him so hard he almost fell over. Shepard took his face in her hands and pressed her forehead to his. 

“You almost died today, Vakarian,” she whispered. “You can’t do that. I told you, it’s Shepard and Vakarian.”

“Sorry, Commander,” he answered, removing one hand from her rear to bury his talons in her hair and hold her tighter to him. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Liar,” she snorted. A few moments passed in calm silence before Shepard pressed her lips to his mouth. It was soft at first but quickly became more desperate, her fingers digging in under his fringe, rolling her hips into his. “Garrus…”

He responded to her plea by turning them around and setting her down on the console. While he punched in a lock command on his omni-tool so they didn’t mess up any of his calibrations, Shepard worked her hand into his pants and running her fingers along his groin plates. Her lips ran hot paths across his chest and Garrus just let himself enjoy the pleasure of her exploring his body. 

And she knew all the places to touch him, to drive him crazy. Research indeed. She had him a desperate mess in a matter of minutes, out of his sheath, pressing his hips into her grip and she worked his cock up and down. He wasn’t alone in his desperation - he could smell the musky scent of want rolling off of her; heard the low moans whenever he gathered his sanity enough to touch her. He was trying to wait for her to push things further but eventually, he just grabbed her shorts and pulled them down. 

“God yes,” Shepard gasped. “Please.”

He didn’t even get the shorts off before he thrust inside her in one move. 

Shepard’s head dropped back, a long, low moan escaping her lungs. Garrus pressed his nose to the thin skin on her neck and breathed her in. Tiny, strong fingers pressed so hard into the sensitive skin under his fringe, his vision almost when black. 

“Fuck me, Garrus,” Shepard panted. “Fuck me so hard I’ll feel it for days.”

With a long, deep growl, he let go of any attempt to control himself and pounded into her. Talons dug deep into the flesh of her legs. He became lost in her tight heat wrapped around him. Her wails and the sound of his hide slapping against her flesh echoed on the walls of the battery. It was filthy. So deliciously filthy and he loved it.

When her legs squeezed tight around his waist, he was done for. The edges of his vision darkened as he felt his release hit him in the gut, tipped his head back and roared. He felt Shepard tighten around him a moment later, her shout joining his. 

He wasn’t sure how long it took him to come back down from his high, but when he did, Shepard has draped around him, legs still resting firmly on his hip spurs, arms wrapped under his arms and pressed against his back. Her quick, shallow breaths dusted across his chest plates. 

“Oh god,” she breathed. 

“Yeah,” Garrus agreed, suddenly remembering how loud they had just been, thankful the battery was sound proof to protect the rest of the ship from the sound of firing guns. Shepard slowly pushed herself up. Garrus looked down at her and realized neither one of them had managed to get their clothes off. He chuckled and helped her off the console, then watched her as she picked up a pair of his civies from the cot he slept on. She tossed them at him. 

"Put some clothes on," she said, a wicked grin on her lips. "Don't want everyone to get a free show on the way up to my cabin."


	3. Danica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival

She knew she was in a lab before she even opened her eyes. It was the smell - sterile and cold. She really hated waking up in labs. 

Danica lay on the table, careful not to move until she could get her bearings as straight as possible without seeing anything. Even before she opened her eyes, she felt groggy. It was taking her too long to put things together. She forced herself to check the movement of her limbs, moving them just a little to make sure she could move. No restraints. Idiots.

There was only one set of footsteps moving around the lab. They were light which meant it wasn’t anyone in armor. A doctor. Or a tech. 

No restraints and no guards. The Indoctrination must have really messed with everyone’s heads in this place. 

The room around her was blurry when she finally peeled open her eyes. Just one person - a woman, short and slight - moved around the room. Definitely not a guard. She was saying something into a comm but Danica couldn’t quite make it out. Her ears were still ringing. They must have drugged her.

A groan escaped her lips as she sat up. She was stiff and sore. They must have had her sedated for a while. And that was bad. Very bad. The countdown at been a little over two days the last time she’d seen it and she felt like she’d been out for at least one of them. 

“Oh shit!” The woman said when she turned around, her eyes settling on Danica. “It didn’t work! The sedative didn’t work! She’s awake!”

“Damn right she is.” Danica slid off the table and stumbled towards the woman, her legs weaker than they should be. What the fuck had the done to her? The woman ran for the door, calling for security. Danica swore as two guards ran in. Weak legs or no, she still Commander Shepard. The guards were easily dispensed of. “Right. Now, to find a way out of here. Too bad I don’t have Miranda in my head again, giving me directions.”

She chuckled at her own joke while she searched for a solution. It wasn’t really that funny. She blamed whatever drug Kenson had pumped into her. 

Kenson. 

The Reapers.

She had to get out of here. She had no idea how much was left on that countdown clock. And as usual, she had to fight her way out. Someday it would be nice to wake up in a lab and just be able to walk out without having to blow shit up 

“Oh, fuck,” she whispered when she found the research log. Two days. She’d been out for almost two full days. Forty-Seven hours. If the countdown clock was correct, the Reapers would arrive in less than two hours. 

Panic clawed at her throat. Two hours. A base full of indoctrinated Alliance personnel. No backup. The Normandy had no idea where she was. 

Garrus had to be losing his mind. 

She had to this on her own. She was all there was. 

“Alright, Dani,” she said to herself as she dug her armor and weapons out of the chest she’d found. At least she didn’t have to take out a whole base without that. “Call the fuck down and get your shit together.”

She fell into the rhythm of battle. It was as easy as breathing. Find cover. Squeeze off controlled rounds. Move often. Pick them off one by one. Adjust to solo op; keep distance. She ignored the remaining effects of the sedatives, willing her body to do what she wanted; what she needed. 

She found the console she needed in a room with a large window overlooking the asteroid. Danica switched her gun to her left hand and strode up the semi-circle desk. 

“I want to activate the Project.” She said. Her voice echoed in the empty room. The voice of the VI made her jump a bit.

“Warning. Activating the Project will result in an estimated three hundred and five thousand casualties. Do you wish to continue?”

“What?” Danica gasped, staring at the console. She took a few steps back, dread and nausea rolling over her. Three hundred thousand lives. 

And yet…

How many more would it be if the Reapers came through? There were less than two hours on the clock. Not enough time to even get a warning to Hackett. Kill three hundred or let the Reapers through. She hated it; hated that this was the choice given her; that she was the one to have to make it. If only people had listened; if only there had been more support; if only….

She pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. She was the one here now. She was the one who had to choose. And she already knew the answer.

“Oh fuck,” she breathed and stepped forward to activate the project. The base rumbled with activation. 

“Project activation in progress.” The VI’s voice was cold and unfeeling. So unlike EDI’s. EDI would have known the choice Danica had just made; would have cared. “Warning: Collision with mass relay is imminent. Begin evacuation procedures.” 

Danica quickly switched her comm to any open local channels. 

“Alert,” she said. “All colonists living in the Bahak system. This is - “

She was interrupted by Dr. Kenson’s image popping up on the screen. 

“Shepard! No!” Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” She shouted. “You leave me no choice. If we can’t stop this asteroid, it must be destroyed!”

Danica swore. If she couldn’t get a warning out, none of them even stood a chance of escaping. She didn’t respond to the doctor. Instead, she addressed the Program VI. 

“Tell me where to find Doctor Amanda Kenson.” She demanded.

“Doctor Kenson is traveling to the reactor core module.”

“An eezo core meltdown should do it. Because of you, everyone on this rock will be obliterated!” Kenson shouted, the tone entirely crazed now. Danica switched her gun back to her right hand and popped the heat sink. 

“Not if I get to you first.” She said and started after the doctor.

Of course, things were always easier said than done. Especially with no backup. She should have ignored Hackett's orders and brought a team with her. She wasn’t even Alliance anymore - she didn’t have to follow orders. 

When she found Kenson the woman was standing in the center of the reactor core module, waiting for Danica.

“Don’t try to stop me, Shepard.” The doctor said. “I have to do this.”

“I’ve already activated the project,” Danica responded. “We can still escape this rock!”

Doctor Kenson turned away from her. 

“There is no escape. There’s no redemption for what you’ve done.” The woman spoke softly. Danica couldn’t help but agree with that statement. Though she was pretty sure they were talking about different things. “I will die never having seen the Reapers’ blessings. And you will just die.”

The crazy look in the woman’s eyes when she turned to look at her again, was, unfortunately, one Danica knew well by now. 

“Damnit, Kenson.” She swore as the doctor ran off, leaving her to deal with more security. Her medi-gel supply was getting severely depleted. She stabilized the reactor core. Took out a couple dozen crazed guards. Just another day at the office.

When she found the doctor again, the woman was worse. 

“You’ve ruined everything!” Kenson shouted, pounding the console. “I can’t hear the whispers anymore.” 

“Turn around,” Danica said. “Now.”

“You’ve taken them away from me,” Kenson whispered now. “I will never see the Reapers’ arrival.”

Danica should have shot her. She should know by now that once indoctrinated, a person was gone. But she’d waited, hoping to talk Kenson out of whatever crazy scheme she had planned; even when she held up the bomb trigger.

“All you had to do was stay asleep,” Kenson continued, her thumb on the red button “None of this had to happen.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Danica said, lowering her gun. She was already taking more than three hundred thousand lives today. She didn’t want to take another. “We can get off this asteroid!” 

But Kenson didn’t listen. They never listen, and apparently, Danica never learned because she always tried to help. 

“No. We cannot,” the doctor said. 

Danica swore as Kenson hit the trigger button.


	4. Danica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath

When she came to, the first thing she knew was that her ribs were broken. She ignored the pain and pushed herself off the floor, the VI warning of an imminent collision. 

“Oh shut up,” Danica groaned. “I fucking know, already.”  
She hobbled herself over the console where Kenson had been and turned on her comm link. Screw Hackett and his top secret protocol. 

“Joker, I need a pick up now,” she said. Instead of getting her snarky pilot, the VI responded. 

“Communication system damaged.”

“Ugh, of course, it is.” Danica slammed a hand down on the console as the VI issued an order for personnel to report to escape shuttles. That was her way out of here. “Where can I find an escape shuttle?”

So she headed for the communications tower, fighting her way through indoctrinated men and women, her body screaming in pain, her shields getting shredded. The last shuttle left the tower while she was still hutched behind a shipping crate, flash grenades wreaking havoc on her hearing and sight. 

She hoped the Normandy was listening. She’d been out for almost two days. Garrus was probably losing his mind. They’d be looking for her because if they weren’t she was well and truly fucked this time. Cerberus would celebrate rather than try Project Lazarus 2.0. This whole mission was a disaster and something told her it was only going to get worse if she managed to get off this rock. 

Three hundred thousand lives….

Danica finally reached the console of the comm tower, limping, holding her hand to the side of her armor like it would offer extra support to her ribs.

“Shepard to Normandy. Joker, do you read me?” She waiting, biting her lip. 

And then she glanced to the side and her heart nearly stopped. 

A Reaper was lowering itself to the platform. 

No, not a Reaper. An image of a Reaper.

And then she heard that voice. The one from the Collector ship. Harbinger. She hated that fucking voice.

“Shepard. You have become an annoyance.”

“If I had a credit for every time someone said that to me,” she mumbled under her breath. Danica walked toward the image of her foe. 

“You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds.”

“Think pretty highly of ourselves, don’t we?” She shouted. But Harbinger ignored her.

“This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed.”

The words cut her to her soul. A whole system. She was sacrificing a whole system. Her, who had once stood in front of the Illusive Man and told him that there was always another way. What a hypocrite she had become. 

“But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Danica said, her throat tight. “Maybe we can’t win this. But we’ll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like I’m doing now. However, ‘insignificant’ we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That’s what humans do.” 

“Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival.”

And then it was gone. 

Danica heaved a sigh of relief, all the energy leaving her body. She was so tired. So fucking tired.

“Commander Shepard.” Her comm link activated. “Normandy inbound for pick-up.”

She caught sight of her ship. The Cerberus emblem removed. The scars from the Omega 4 Relay patched. She wondered for how long. War was coming.

“Roger that,” she said, and moved as quickly as she could toward the edge of the platform. 

Garrus was standing there when the door slid open; rifle in hand; fury in his eyes. Danica stumbled as she leaped onto the ship and his arms steadied her. 

“Damnit, Shepard,” he growled. Danica waved him off. 

“Get me to the flight deck,” she demanded. “Now!”

And so once again, Garrus hauled her ass to the flight deck. Joker was already headed for the relay when they got there. 

“Get us out of here, Joker!”

Joker didn’t respond. The lack of snarky reply and the solemn look on his face told Danica enough. They knew. 

“You couldn’t hear us, but Hackett gave us the data link for the base,” Garrus explained before she could ask. “We heard you activate the Project.”

The force of the ship moving through the relay made Danica lose her footing. They were through. Suddenly, all the adrenaline drained from her and the exhaustion and the pain made her vision swarm. She didn’t even have time to give Garrus a warning before she passed out. 

 

Hackett was pissed. Garrus was pissed. And she was too fucking tired to tell either of them to stand down. 

“I don’t appreciate your behavior, Vakarian,” Hackett snarled. He was typically a calm man but lesser men trembled when his anger showed. Garrus Vakarian, however, was not a lesser man and he was not trembling. At least not out of fear of Hackett. No, it was more out of anger at the Admiral. Maybe fear for Danica.

“I couldn’t care less,” Garrus growled. Danica could barely hear over his subvocals roaring with anger and indignation. He’d hauled her to med bay after she’d passed out on the flight deck and had promptly ignored all of the Admiral’s hails until she’d woken up nine hours later. 

“Stand down, Garrus,” she said softly. A tense silence settled over the room. Danica sighed and pushed herself off the bed, wincing at the pain that racked her body. A protective rumble came from Garrus. 

“I’d like to speak with you,” Hackett growled. “Alone.”

“Garrus stays.” Danica kept her voice quiet and even. “This mission was a favor - and a pretty fucked up one at that. I’m not Alliance anymore and you’re not my CO. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to him. Otherwise, don't say it at all and see yourself off my ship.”

The Admiral stared at her for a long moment before speaking in a clipped voice.

“Very well. What the hell happened out there?”

Danica picked up a datapad where she’d set it down on the bed next to her when Hackett had come storming into med bay a few minutes earlier. 

“I confirmed Doctor Kenson’s proof. The Reapers were coming, and destroying that relay was the only way to stop them.” She could hear Garrus pacing behind her. “They were all indoctrinated, Hackett. Working with a Reaper artifact out in the open. Kenson sedated me for almost two days before the drugs wore off. I started the engines with little more than an hour left. I tried to warn the batarian colony, but...time ran out.”

She felt numb. Hurt. Exhausted. No matter what she did, things just kept getting worse. And they were going to keep getting worse. She knew the Alliance all too well.

Hackett looked over the mission data, the anger melting from his expression. His shoulders slumped. 

“The batarians report no survivors from Aratoth,” he said eventually. “At least you tried.”

He raised sad eyes to hers, then clasped his hands behind his back and paced away from her. 

“And you believe the Reaper invasion really was a threat?”

“It’s been a threat for three god-damned years,” Garrus growled. Danica glanced over her shoulder to quiet him again. Thankfully, Hackett didn’t respond so she didn’t have to run interference between the two again. 

“No doubt about it,” Danica said, following the Admiral. “We literally had minutes to spare. The recording of the mission is on that datapad. You can listen to the whole two days if you’d like.”

“I’m sure all the details are in your report.” He turned to face her again. She knew what was coming; had anticipated it since she accepted his call after waking up. Garrus was going to lose it. “I won’t lie to you, Shepard: the batarians will want blood, and there’s just enough evidence for a witch hunt. And we don’t want war with the batarians. Not with the Reapers at the galaxy’s edge.”

“What are you saying?” Garrus moved to stand at Shepard’s side. Hackett glanced at the Turian, but then returned his gaze to Shepard. 

“You did what you did for the best of reasons, but...There were more than three hundred thousand batarians in that system. All dead.”

“They died to save trillions of lives,” she said. Despite knowing what was coming, she couldn’t help the irritation that was rising in her chest; the indignation that she was going to take the blame for this. “If I could have saved them, you bet your ass I would have.”

“Your preaching to the choir, Commander.” Hackett looked pointedly at Garrus. “I believe you. I do. If it were up to me, I’d give you a damn medal.”

“But it’s not up to you,” she said quietly. Garrus stiffened beside her when Hackett nodded. 

“Unfortunately, not everyone will see it that way.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Garrus mumbled. Danica sighed. 

“What do you suggest?” She asked. Hackett sighed. His expression, his stance, shifted to one she knew well - battle mode. He had a plan. It was going to suck - she could tell that much from the tightness in his jaw - but he had one. 

“Evidence against you is shoddy, at best. But at some point, you’ll have to go to Earth to face the music. I can’t stop it...but I can and will make them fight for it.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Garrus exploded. “You expect her to turn herself in for saving everyone’s ass? Again?”

“Garrus.” 

“Shepard, you cannot seriously be thinking about doing this.” His words were angry, but his subvocals hummed sadly...he couldn’t go to Earth with her. She didn’t look at him; she didn’t want to see the look in his eyes. 

“I’ll turn myself in,” she said to Hackett. “I’ll need some time to find places for my crew; get everyone where they need to go. And then I’ll bring the Normandy back to Earth.”

“Glad to see working with Cerberus hasn’t stripped away your sense of honor.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Garrus growled and Danica had to step in front of him to keep the turian from going after Hackett. To the human’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. 

“Fuck you, Hackett,” Danica snapped. “I did what I had to because no one else was willing to. Including yourself. And now I get to face court-martial for it.”

Hackett smirked.

“Just seeing if you had some fire left in you,” he said. “You’ll be getting a lot of that soon.”

Danica snorted.

“I can handle myself. I’ll come and I’ll play this little game, but let me make this perfectly clear - I won’t play it for forever.” She stepped forward so she stood toe-to-toe with the Admiral, catching a flicker of surprise on his face before he hid it. “I’m not staying forever. If there is one thing I’ve learned this year it that I’m more than Alliance. I don’t need them. I have friends all over the galaxy; people who trust me and will support me regardless of what emblem is on my chest. Because they know who I am.

“I’ll come to Earth and I’ll stand in front of the brass because they’ll have to listen to this mission. I’ll get to watch as they realize that what I’ve been saying for the last three years was true. And hopefully - hopefully - we can finally start making some god-damned preparations for the war that is coming. And if they don’t listen, you can bet that no force known to man will keep me grounded, Admiral.”

Danice swore she saw the corners of his mouth twitching as he held her gaze steadily. Garrus growled in agreement with her. 

“I’d expect nothing less,” the Admiral said. And then he turned and left without another word. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Departing a bit more from canon than normal. I just can't see Shepard would be so calm with Hackett after that kind of mission; after she'd done him a favor, she does the best she can with a shit situation and then gets in trouble for it. So I gave her a bit of fire.


	5. Garrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We put this love in a photograph

Five weeks. 

That’s all they’d had between the Omega 4 relay and the destruction of Aratoth. 

Five weeks of time together. Five weeks where she slept without nightmares, pressed to his side, smelling of vanilla and brown sugar. Five weeks of peace in the storm.

He’d argued with her for days about her decision to turn herself in. And then he’d argued with her for days to come with her even though he knew it was impractical; impossible. Eventually, though, after they’d dropped Tali off at the Fleet and turned toward the Citadel, he’d relented. Just like they both knew he would. Because she needed to stand in front of her leaders while they finally saw the evidence that the Reapers were coming. she needed to convince them; she needed to help them prepare. And she needed him out here, doing what he could to prepare everyone else. 

“You’re my person, Garrus,” she’d said, lying on her side, the dim light of the fish tank reflecting in her eyes, her skin still hot and sweaty from sex. “You’re the only person I trust to make sure people are getting ready. I need to know your out here. Otherwise, all the work I’m doing on Earth won’t mean shit.”

He hated it. Hated it when she was right. But he hadn’t agreed without conditions. 

“Six months,” he’d countered. “If I don’t hear from you in six months, I’m coming after you.” 

“It’s brass, Garrus. You’ve got to give them at least a year.”

“Nine months.” A year was too long. Far too long. Even if it wasn’t two years; even if he knew she was alive and relatively safe. A year was too much time, especially with the end of the galaxy coming their way.

“Okay,” she’d agreed with a small smile. “Nine months.”

\---------

They squeezed in every minute of time in together that they could before arriving at the Citadel but it wasn't nearly enough. She and Joker were dropping him off there with Miranda and Mordin. After the other two had left, he stood on the dock next to the Normandy, his bag slung over his shoulder. His chest was so tight he could barely breathe. He hated this. Hated it so much. 

“I got you this.” She held up something. A thin sheet of what looked like....paper, maybe? His species hadn’t used anything like it for thousands of years but he knew humans had; still did sometimes. Garrus accepted the gift and turned it over to see an image of Danica on it. She was in her shorts and a tank top, hair hanging down, leaning against the counter in the mess, smiling up at him. She looked beautiful. “It’s a photograph. It’s an old human tradition when you’re going to be away from someone you...care about. You keep it in your pocket; to help you remember.”

Garrus looked up at his commander; his Danica. She was biting her lip the way she did when she was fighting emotions. Her eyes shone with tears he knew she would not shed. He traced a talon along her jawline. 

“I don’t need a picture to remember you,” he said softly. Danica pressed her lips together and turned her face into his hand, pressing her warm lips against the hide there. She swallowed hard. 

“Will you go home?” She asked. “To Palaven?”

“I’ll go to Palaven,” he said slowly, watching her closely to gauge her reaction. “But it’s not home; hasn’t been for a long time.”

Danica reached up and pulled his head down until their foreheads were pressed together. This - this was home. Garrus allowed his subvocals to express what his words couldn’t, wishing for a moment that she had them too. But he didn’t really need them. He would read all the words she wished to say in her eyes when she pulled away and looked up at him. This was her home, too. Side by side. Shepard and Vakarian. 

“Wait for me to come home?” She whispered. Garrus swallowed hard, trying to loosen his throat enough to speak. 

“Always.”

Without another word, Danica Shepard turned and walked back to her ship, her head high and her shoulders back. She didn’t look back at him and he didn’t mind. He knew it was the only way she could keep her will from faltering. 

Garrus waited until the Normandy was out of sight before heading into the station. He’d find a place to stay for the night and tomorrow, he’d find a ship back to Palaven. He’d given his word that he’d do everything he could to help the galaxy prepare for the Reapers. The best thing he could think of was to get the galaxy’s best military ready to fight - even if that meant doing one thing he swore he’d never do again.

Ask his father for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'll be damned we made it through the end of ME2. Don't worry, I've got ME3 in the works. I just started replaying so that I can get the creative juices flowing. It will probably be awhile but Dani and Garrus will be back, stronger than ever!


End file.
